Monday, September 30, 2013

It
doesn’t matter if you’re self-publishing or going traditional, one thing is for
sure - marketing yourself is a must. Many cringe at the thought, but there are
some ways to make it less painful and more productive.

1.Press releases are a priority.

Take
time to write a good one. You’ve put a ton of time into your book, so don’t
flub on the release. Give your story a good hook, something that will catch the
eye of a reporter or editor. We, being the eccentric girlz we are, go the extra
mile to hand deliver our releases in a whimsical way.

We have
just launched our third mystery, Big
Easy Escapade, which
is set in New Orleans so the press kits included purple, green and gold tissue
paper, a French Quarter magnet, an alligator and beads along with the book,
press release and our business card. We spent about $7.00 each including the
cost of the book.

Our
first book, Getaway Girlz, was set on the white-sand beaches of
Mexico. Therefore, our press kits were delivered in hot-pink sand buckets and
included a Getaway Girlz koozie and
pen, the book, press release, business card, and small bottle of white sand (direct
from Mexico) that was labeled with a picture of the book cover and our media
contact. This kit got us noticed by the Houston
Chronicle and Getaway
Girlz was chosen as one of their “recent releases worthy of attention.” Getaway Girlz also attracted the attention of CultureMap
Houston, which
led to our first interview and feature story. Our hometown newspaper, the Pasadena Citizen, ran our story almost
word-for-word from the release.

Timing
your press release is important, as well. We send the first announcement about our
book launch one month out, the actual press kit and book at two weeks out and a
shorter “reminder” email two days before the launch. Each press release needs a
slightly different angle, but should boil down to the launch of the book. We
customize the releases depending if we’re sending it to our local media in Fort
Worth, our hometown of Houston/Pasadena, New Orleans, etc.

2.Plant a person at your book signings.

Another
of our marketing strategies is the Barnes and Noble “plant.” We have a friend
meet us, wearing their Getaway Girlz gear. We put them front and
center at the entrance of the store, holding our books and greeting folks as
they come in. They let customers know about the book signing and point them in
our direction. If they can hand them a book, perfect! Hand it back-cover up, so
they see our (fantastic) picture and read the back blurb. After that they’re
usually hooked. Just a side note - most people assume our plant is a Barnes and
Noble employee, so be sure they know where the restroom is - a common question.

3.Get out and about – work it!

This
may not be easy for everyone, but because we write as a team, we meet at local
restaurants and bars to work. We are connoisseurs of the local happy hour,
always checking in on Facebook so people can see us hard at work. In the process
we’ve had restaurants hang our books on their wall. We turned it into
celebrations inviting our fanz to watch as the art was unveiled. We recently
found out that a couple who met at our book unveiling just got married! Press
release time!

4.Cash and carry.

The
most common thing we do is carry our books with us in our big ass purses (sorry
guys), business cards, Square credit card reader and change for a $20. It’s
easy enough to ask your lunchtime waitress, the person next to you on the plane
or anywhere else “do you like to read?” Nine times out of ten they’ll say “yes,”
and you can ask what types of books are their favorites and go from there.
Johnell recently sold two books at a blackjack table. She lost her ass
otherwise, but sold the two books she had in her purse. Winner winner chicken
dinner!

5.Paid promotion can help you prosper.

During
the July 4th holiday Getaway
Girlz was featured on Bookbub, which was our first
paid advertising. The results were phenomenal! We received more than 48,000
downloads which led to additional sales of Rocky
Mountain Mayhem. Getaway Girlz
hit #2 in the bestsellers Kindle store, top 100 free. Thanks, Joe, for blogging
about Bookbub!

About
the authors:

Texas
gals and life-long friends, Johnell Kelley and Robbyn Foster, a.k.a. Joan
Rylen, can be found vacationing across the globe with their favorite Getaway
Girlz, stirring up trouble, then writing about it! Visit us at GetawayGirlz.com.